Lender Violations

Requiring a Homeowner to Resubmit Information

In some cases, servicers ask homeowners to submit and then resubmit information when applying for a loan modification. This is especially true in the case of income verification documents (such as paystubs and profit and loss statements), which can quickly become outdated in the eyes of the servicer.

In addition, servicers may also sometimes ask borrowers to resubmit documentation when the paperwork gets lost.

If this happens to you, you should resubmit any duplicate information that the servicer requests, but be sure to keep a record of when you sent it, who you sent it to, and send it by some method that you can track.

Asking for a Down Payment

In most cases, you should not have to pay a down payment in order to get a loan modification. For example, there is no down payment required to get a HAMP modification

Using Incorrect Income Information In Processing the NPV

When a servicer evaluates a borrower for a loan modification, it looks at financial information about the borrower, the loan, and the property (such as the borrower’s income, the unpaid principal balance on the loan, the property’s fair market value, etc.). It then makes a comparison between

the estimated cash flow the investor will receive if the loan is modified, and

the investor’s cash flow if the loan is foreclosed.

If the investor would be better off if the servicer forecloses on the loan, rather than modifies (this is called NPV negative), then the servicer doesn’t have to modify the loan.

Under federal mortgage servicing rules, the national mortgage settlement, and under California’s Homeowner Bill of Rights, if the reason you didn’t qualify for a loan modification is because of the NPV calculation, the servicer must tell you the values that it used to calculate the NPV. If the servicer used the wrong information, you can appeal the denial.

Also, under HAMP, if you discover that the servicer used incorrect information in the calculation, you have 30 days to correct any NPV values. Then your servicer must re-run the test.

Inserting a Waiver Into the Loan Modification Documents

Sometimes servicers will try to insert a waiver into a loan modification agreement in which you agree to release all legal claims you have or may have against the servicer or the lender concerning the loan.

This is generally not allowed. HAMP guidelines, for example, prohibit servicers from asking borrower to waive their legal rights as a condition of getting a loan modification.

Failing to Convert a Trial Modification into a Permanent Modification

Many loan modifications, particularly those under the HAMP program, start with a three-month trial period plan. So long as you make three on-time payments during this period, the modification is supposed to become permanent (assuming you still meet the eligibility criteria).

When a servicer promises to modify an eligible loan, homeowners who live up to their end of the bargain expect the servicer to keep that promise. However, many homeowners who have successfully made their trial mortgage modification payments have been unable to get the servicer to make the modifications permanent.